“A great sign appeared in the sky: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1).

Advent

As we celebrate the Blessed Mother’s two very special feast days this week, Father Ward’s article in the Christmas Bulletin (Association of the Miraculous Medal, 2009, pp. 1-2) focuses on Mary as a symbol of hope during Advent.

Prayers

My Queen! My Mother! I give myself entirely to you; and to show my devotion to you, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve. Wherefore, good mother, as I am your own, keep me and guard me as your property and possession. Amen (Divine Mercy Adoration Companion, Maroney, 2008).

O Mary, conceived without sin, I come to your throne of grace to share the fervent devotion of your faithful Mexican children who call to you under the glorious Aztec title of Guadalupe, the virgin who crushed the serpent.

Queen of Martyrs, whose immaculate heart was pierced by seven swords of grief, help me to walk valiantly amid the sharp thorns strewn across the pathway. Invoke the holy spirit of wisdom to fortify my will to frequent the sacraments so that, thus enlightened and strengthened, I may prefer God to all creatures and shun every occasion of sin. Help me, as a living branch of the vine that is Jesus Christ, to exemplify his divine charity always seeking the good of others.

Queen of Apostles, aid me to win souls for the sacred heart of my savior. Keep my apostolate fearless, dynamic, and articulate to proclaim the loving solitude of our father in heaven so that the wayward may heed his pleading and obtain pardon through the merits of your merciful son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Holy Mary, our mother, today, each day, and in our last hour, we entrust ourselves entirely to your loving and singular care. We place in your hands our entire hope and happiness, our every anxiety and difficulty, our whole life. May our every endeavor be directed and guided according to the will of your son, which is your will by the aid of your prayer and special favor with God. Amen.

December 1, 2013

The spirit of Advent largely consists in living close to our Lady during the time she is carrying Jesus in her womb. We can think of our whole life as a somewhat longer advent, a time of waiting for that definitive moment when we will at last find ourselves with God forever (Reverend Francis Fernández-Carvajal).

December 9, 2013

Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical Rose, make intercession for our Holy Church, protect the Pope, help all those who invoke you in their necessities; and, since you are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from your most Holy Son, the grace of keeping our faith, sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, burning charity, and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.

December 20, 2013

Our Lady was full of God because she lived for God alone, yet she thought of herself only as the handmaid of the Lord. Let us do the same (Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta).

May 28, 2014

Humility is like a pair of scales: the lower one side falls, the higher rises the other. Let us humble ourselves like the Blessed Virgin and we shall be exalted (St. John Vianney).

August 22, 2015

“Because… Mary was raised to such a lofty dignity as to be the mother of the king of kings, it is deservedly and by every right that the Church has honored her with the title of Queen” (St. Alphonsus Liguori).

September 12, 2015

“The devils fear the queen of heaven to such a degree that, only on hearing her great name pronounced, they fly from him who does so as from a burning fire” (Thomas à Kempis in The Imitation of Christ).

September 26, 2015

“All my own perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded upon Our Lady” (J.R.R. Tolkien).

December 12, 2015

Hail, O Virgin of Guadalupe, empress of America! Keep forever under your powerful patronage the purity and integrity of our holy faith on the entire American continent (Pope Pius XII).

Immaculate heart of Mary, heart of my Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, I unite to your purity, your sanctity, your zeal, and your love all my thoughts, words, acts, and sufferings this day that there may be nothing in me that does not become, through you, a pleasure to Jesus, a gain to souls, and an act of reparation for the offenses against your heart.

January 16, 2016

Let the storm rage and the sky darken— not for that shall we be dismayed. If we trust as we should in Mary, we shall recognize in her, the virgin most powerful who with virginal foot did crush the head of the serpent (St. Pius X).

December 12, 2016

“This is what the Virgin of Guadalupe asks of you today: fidelity to the gospel, of which she knew how to be the most eminent example” (Blessed Paul VI).

July 1, 2017

Our Lady said yes for the human race. Each one of us must echo that yes for our own lives. We are all asked if we will surrender what we are… and allow Christ to fill the emptiness formed by the particular shape of our life. The surrender that is asked of us includes complete and absolute trust; it must be like our Lady’s surrender, without condition and without reservation (Caryll Houselander).